Kittens, Nicknames and Cuddling: A Dutchlets Fic
by newyorktopaloalto
Summary: Just some self-indulgent Dutchlets fluff. A night in the lodging house with Bumlets' new kitten. 1899.


A/N: Dutchlets fluff based on a RP that I'm in. It's just a lot of fluff. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the concept of this story, and even then the concept is only half mine. Newsies belongs to Disney, Kenny Ortega, and the lovely cast who embodied the characters so beautifully.

"What do you have there?" the question was directed to the Hispanic boy, tone simple in its innocence.

"A cat," came the gruff reply, waiting to be told off about it.

"Can I see it?"

The hispanic boy nodded to the boy with glasses and motioned him over to the bunk he was sitting on.

He showed him the kitten he was holding. It was so small that it fit neatly into both of his hands. The kitten 'meow-ed' at seeing the light and opened up it's yellow-green eyes. It was predominately an ash grey colour, with spots of white splattered about its body.

"What's its name?"

"His name is Copernicus."

"Coperni-what? Bumlets, did you just make that up to yank my chin?"

The hispanic boy, Bumlets, laughed and shook his head.

"No, don't be silly, Dutchy. Copernicus was the person who realized that the Earth wasn't the center of the universe…" at Dutchy's blank look he hastened to give an addendum, "but I just call him 'Cop' for short."

Dutchy nodded and reached a hand out, asking without speaking if he could pet the kitten. Bumlets held the kitten out and put him in Dutchy's hand as answer.

After a few seconds of fussing at being moved, Cop closed his eyes again and nuzzled into Dutchy's chest.

"He likes you," Bumlets chuckled fondly.

"All cats like me," Dutchy boasted, scratching Cop behind his ear to hear him purr.

"I'm sure."

They were silent for a few moments, Dutchy watching Cop and Bumlets watching Dutchy watch Cop.

"How'd you sell today?" Bumlets finally asked, breaking the moment with a nervous cough.

"Fine," Dutchy shrugged, "the usual."

Bumlets nodded and scooted closer to Dutchy, trying not to jostle the bunk in fear of waking up the kitten.

"Have you had dinner yet?" Dutchy asked, blinking in bemusement at Bumlets' cloer-than-normal frame.

"Yeah," Bumlets shrugged, "but I know that you didn't."

Dutchy inclined his head, either agreeing or nonchalantly avoiding the statement, Bumlets didn't know.

So um…" Bumlets started, cheeks turning a ruddy pink, "I noticed that and got you somethin'."

Dutchy turned to look at him, vaguely astonished. "What?"

Bumlets shrugged again and held out a hot dog that had been on his bed. "It isn't much, but I thought that you would like it."

Dutchy stared at him and Bumlets flushed again. At that Dutchy smiled and accepted the hot dog.

"Thanks," he said, mouth full.

"You could at least chew your food," Bumlets complained, previous embarrassment forgotten.

Dutchy just smirked through his mouthful and looked down at Cop again, petting him absentmindedly.

"Did you want to sell together tomorrow?" he asked after swallowing.

"Yeah sure."

Dutchy smiled again and it was silent once more.

This time, however, neither seemed inclined to break the silence and they switched from looking at each other to gazing around the room.

After about five minutes of glance-tag, loud and rambunctious voices interrupted them.

They heard Jack before they saw him and Bumlets quickly grabbed Cop and hid him under the covers. They looked completely innocent by the time the other boys joined them.

"Hey, you guys missed the game!" Racetrack shouted gleefully, obviously having won quite a few rounds.

Dutchy smiled, tight-lipped, and scooched closer to Bumlets.

The room became loud then, leaving Bumlets and Dutchy ample time to quietly discuss the situation.

"You know he doesn't like cats," Dutchy whispered, surreptitiously glancing around the room.

"I know. But I couldn't just leave him there. I mean, you saw him, he would have died," Bumlets exclaimed, only quieting when Dutchy shushed him.

Thankfully, no one seemed to look over at them, and they continued on, clueless of the looks Jack was now giving them.

After a few moments Cop seemed to wake up and they heard him trying to claw his way out of the sheets.

Bumlets spared a slightly horrified look at Dutchy before attempting, and failing, to keep the lump from moving.

"What's this?" came Jack's unmistakeable imperial tone.

"Nothin'," Dutchy replied, voice so sullen it wouldn't be remiss to think it came from Skittery.

"It's nothing, really!" Bumlets brightly stated, the lie evident in his voice.

Jack glared suspiciously at the pair before turning to stalk off. The pair sighed in relief, but luck didn't seem to be on their side. At that moment, a small 'meow' came from Bumlets' sheets and Jack sharply glanced back.

Bumlets and Jack stared at each other for a minute, a silent conversation, before Bumlets averted his eyes and grabbed the kitten from its nest.

"A kitten." Jack's voice was blank, giving nothing away.

Dutchy nodded and Bumlets opened his mouth to say something.

"It's so cute!" Jack interrupted with a squeal, practically launching himself at it.

"What's so cute?" came another voice, tone so stern that a mother would be jealous.

"Nothin'," came Jack's voice, muffled from being buried in the kitten's fur.

"Is that a cat?" David asked, coming to stand next to Jack, his hands on his hips.

"No!" all three of the boys shouted in unison.

David sighed, obviously seeing the cat on Jack's face. "You guys know that it isn't good to have animals in here. You can't because it'll dirty up the place."

"You didn't care when it was Snoddy with that dog," Dutchy shot back, standing up to defend Bumlets.

Dutchy looked over at Jack, expecting him to help out his cause, but Jack just looked at David sadly, petting the kitten, obviously not wanting to go against David's words.

David looked over at him, sighed, and glanced over at Dutchy and Bumlets, both of whom were pouting.

"Okay, fine, you can keep it."

Bumlets smiled and thanked David gently, knowing that while David didn't have any real say in whether or not he kept the cat, it felt a lot better when he had his approval. David just smiled back and Jack glanced between the two of them, all the while trying to shoo David off to somewhere else.

"Oh!" Jack paused in his efforts and turned to simultaneously smile and glare at Bumlets, who was looking all the more confused by the minute. "David is staying the night, so you and Dutchy have to share a bunk because no one else wants to. That's okay, right?"

"It's fine!" Dutchy exclaimed, before Bumlets could do more than open his mouth.

Bumlets smiled at Dutchy, obviously not minding that he was being spoken for.

"Okay good." Jack nodded and dragged David back to the land of people.

Bumlets was amused at the sudden exit and turned to share it with Dutchy. However, before he could, he was encased in a surprisingly strong pair of arms.

"Wha-?" he managed, having the instinct to wrap his arms around the body.

"You like Davey?" It was a statement, but it came out as more of a question.

"Yeah, I suppose. Why?"

Dutchy looked up at from where his head was buried in Bumlets' chest and pouted.

"What's wrong?" Bumlets asked, giving him a crooked grin.

"Do you like him more than you like me?" Dutchy tried to sound ambivalent, but it came out more petulant and resigned.

"Of course not." At this Bumlets ruffled his hair fondly and moved them both over to the bed once again.

"I don't think I could like anyone better than I do you," he added, sitting the both of them down.

Dutchy smiled faintly and propped his head on Bumlets' shoulder. "Thanks."

"No problem."

There was yet another pause and they sighed in unison. After smirking at each other at that, Dutchy cleared his throat to speak again.

"I don't like anyone else better than I do you, too," he stated resolutely, burying his face into Bumlets' neck after that statement.

They sat there, breathing together silently until the other boys of the lodging house started to go to bed.

"Here's your cat." Jack's voice came from behind them and Bumlets turned around only enough to glance at him out of the corner of his eye, trying not to disrupt Dutchy's head.

"Thanks," he whispered, aware of the other boys attempting to sleep.

"He's super cute," Jack stated, reluctantly letting go of Cop.

"I know."

"Okay. G'night." And with that Jack walked back to his bunk, whispering quietly to David, who was in the bunk below him.

Bumlets glanced down at Dutchy and put Cop on top of his head.

"What are you doing?" Dutchy asked, bemused.

"You two look adorable like this," he breathed, grinning at the sight.

"Yeah well," Dutchy shrugged and blushed, bright red on his pale face and neck.

Bumlets chuckled and took Cop down when he started 'meow-ing' at being somewhere so unstable.

"Should we go to bed?" Dutchy asked, nodding toward the room at whole, indicating that the only other people awake were Blink and Mush, who were also whispering, and Jack and David, who were silently playing a card game of some sort.

Bumlets nodded and laid down, making room for Dutchy on the narrow bed.

"What are we gonna do with Cop?" Dutchy asked, motioning toward the kitten in Bumlets' arms.

"He likes to sleep at the head of my bed," Bumlets explained, putting Cop there as if to prove a point.

Dutchy gave him a look.

"At least he did when he took a nap this afternoon," Bumlets added, shrugging sheepishly.

Dutchy smiled and laid down as well, cuddling close to Bumlets so they could still talk and see each other.

"I'm really tired but I don't wanna go to bed yet," he explained at Bumlets' questioning look.

"Ah."

Dutchy yawned and blinked roughly, simultaneously proving his point and adding to the fact that he should, indeed, go to bed.

"Just go to sleep," Bumlets said, grinning softly at Dutchy's tired expression, "we can talk to each other tomorrow when we're sellin'."

Dutchy just nodded in response and bid Bumlets a 'good night'.

"G'night, Dutchling," Bumlets responded, smiling at the weak shoulder punch it got him.

"Don't call me that," Dutchy muttered, already half asleep.

"Of course not, Dutchling. I will never call you that again, Dutchling."

Dutchy just snuggled closer and sighed in his near-sleep.

"Love you," Bumlets whispered, so quietly he could hardly hear it himself.

He fell asleep, smiling.

After a few moments, when he was sure Bumlets had truly fallen asleep, Dutchy opened his eyes once more.

"I love you too," he whispered into the night air, closing his eyes before he could see the sleepy smile on Bumlets' face.


End file.
